


Trenches // Battle Scars

by orphan_account



Category: Pokemon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-01
Updated: 2012-03-27
Packaged: 2017-11-02 14:36:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/370083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a war, there are two options: kill or be killed. Call and response between Giovanni and his only true challenger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Trenches

**Author's Note:**

> A couple of drabbles written a couple months ago for some prompts. Enjoy.

Sleep, child. Lay down your weapon and sleep.

You cannot save the world with just a pet pikachu and a dream. Dreams are worthless things that will not save you or anyone else. They just end up trampled in the dirt.

Do you really think you can defeat us? Not a chance. Our trenches run so much deeper than yours, filled with corruption and decay. We will poison you with lies. We will tear you apart. We will burn your cities and steal your kinsfolk.

And what if we do win? What is it that you're fighting so hard to protect? Nothing will change, you see. The government is already corrupted. Life is already flawed. In fact, we seek to improve society. If everything works in harmony, organized by one benevolent person, then perhaps we can dispose of the corruption and the flaws.

No, you gain nothing by fighting us. You will only lose everything.

Give up and sleep. Sleep like the day you die. If you do not, that day will come much sooner.


	2. Battle Scars

He's got a scar on his right arm from the time he fell out of the Silph Co. Tower. He's not the only one, either; Green was there, and Green got an infectious gash on his left calf. And pikachu… well, let's just say that his left ear won't ever look the same as his right ear.

But that's okay.

Because scars are temporary? Because memories are forgettable? No. Because Red can see through the glass lies that Team Rocket hangs up like Christmas tree ornaments. Because Red can hear the tension beneath Giovanni's silken-smooth voice whenever they speak.

Because Red can tell that he's afraid. Because Red can sort of understand why.

Sure, he has his own moments of terror, when he curls up in his sleeping bag and cringes away from the world. Those are the moments of clarity when he realizes exactly what he's up against, and those are the moments of panic when he realizes that he's in this too deep, and that there's no way out.

But war is something that makes you not quite sane. It swallows you and makes you more pokemon than human. So he bares his teeth and proceeds.

Even Giovanni can't outrun bullets. Red will win this war yet.


End file.
